Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[Trevorusn]

Ok, a wee bit of venting here. I have had chickens for only a year and a half, but the medical maladies we have treated have been insane! Frostbite, wry neck, scaly leg mites, poopy butts, coccidiosis, round worm, a spur somehow being lost, and now body lice. We lost 2 SF hens in a week, one euthanized even after trying to treat her mysteriously necrotic skin and the other to unknown causes. Has anyone else EVER had experiences like this raising chickens? All these maladies in such a short timespan? Just gets a bit discouraging, it seems to never end!

 

[HappyClucker7]

Ok, a wee bit of venting here. I have had chickens for only a year and a half, but the medical maladies we have treated have been insane! Frostbite, wry neck, scaly leg mites, poopy butts, coccidiosis, round worm, a spur somehow being lost, and now body lice. We lost 2 SF hens in a week, one euthanized even after trying to treat her mysteriously necrotic skin and the other to unknown causes. Has anyone else EVER had experiences like this raising chickens? All these maladies in such a short timespan? Just gets a bit discouraging, it seems to never end!

That's crazy! I'm so sorry you had to go through all that! Where did you get your chickens from? What breeds are they? If you got them from a bad hatchery, then they may not be as resistant to sickness as other chickens. Also, some breeds are more susceptible to illnesses than others.

 

[Trevorusn]

That's crazy! I'm so sorry you had to go through all that! Where did you get your chickens from? What breeds are they? If you got them from a bad hatchery, then they may not be as resistant to sickness as other chickens. Also, some breeds are more susceptible to illnesses than others.

Funny, some of my hardiest and also my unhealthiest are hatchery birds. I have 5 buff, 4 blue buff, and 1 splash Brahma from a breeder, 5 blue and 5 splash JGs from a breeder, 1 blue salmon Faverolles roo from a breeder and one BLR Wyandotte from a breeder. My hatchery birds are one roo and one hen Faverolles, one splash Wyandotte hen, 3 black JGs and 4 ISA Browns from Hoover. Of the two Faverolles hens we just lost, one was a blue SF hen that was the brother of my blue SF roo and the other was from a hatchery. The 7 from Hoover have been quite healthy minus the case of wry neck, however the splash Wyandotte and 2, now 1, SF hens that came from a hatchery we got together from a woman off CL, and these 3 have had their fair share of issues.

 

[BY Bob]

Ok, a wee bit of venting here. I have had chickens for only a year and a half, but the medical maladies we have treated have been insane! Frostbite, wry neck, scaly leg mites, poopy butts, coccidiosis, round worm, a spur somehow being lost, and now body lice. We lost 2 SF hens in a week, one euthanized even after trying to treat her mysteriously necrotic skin and the other to unknown causes. Has anyone else EVER had experiences like this raising chickens? All these maladies in such a short timespan? Just gets a bit discouraging, it seems to never end!

That is a LOT of misfortune. I can say I have not dealt with that level of problems all at once. I will say that this year I have dealt with coccidia, worms, and poopy butts but they were all at once. Well and poopy butts now again. I would like to try and help if you are interested. Maybe we could understand why you are dealing with all these issues and perhaps put some preventive measures in place.

 

[HappyClucker7]

Funny, some of my hardiest and also my unhealthiest are hatchery birds. I have 5 buff, 4 blue buff, and 1 splash Brahma from a breeder, 5 blue and 5 splash JGs from a breeder, 1 blue salmon Faverolles roo from a breeder and one BLR Wyandotte from a breeder. My hatchery birds are one roo and one hen Faverolles, one splash Wyandotte hen, 3 black JGs and 4 ISA Browns from Hoover. Of the two Faverolles hens we just lost, one was a blue SF hen that was the brother of my blue SF roo and the other was from a hatchery. The 7 from Hoover have been quite healthy minus the case of wry neck, however the splash Wyandotte and 2, now 1, SF hens that came from a hatchery we got together from a woman off CL, and these 3 have had their fair share of issues.

If the 3 with the most issues came from the same place, then I would say they are sickly because of however they were bred.
For the future, I would recommend really looking into the places you get your chicks from, and make sure they come from reputable breeders. If you see a hatchery that is NPIP certified, then that is also a plus. That certification basically means that they are breeding healthier chickens. I recently got some chicks from an NPIP certified hatchery, and so far they have been very healthy and robust.
You can read more about NPIP certification here: https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/npip-certification.75492/

 

[Trevorusn]

That is a LOT of misfortune. I can say I have not dealt with that level of problems all at once. I will say that this year I have dealt with coccidia, worms, and poopy butts but they were all at once. Well and poopy butts now again. I would like to try and help if you are interested. Maybe we could understand why you are dealing with all these issues and perhaps put some preventive measures in place.

Anything is helpful, but it seems due to where I live, unless I can keep all wildlife away I just may have to face reality that my flocks are susceptible to all the things wild birds can transmit to them. I just don't understand how it all happens so quickly while some folks have chickens for a decade and don't encounter half of this. We use sand in the main living areas of the coop, we stopped free ranging last summer after losing 2 to predation, and clean the coops daily, as well as do periodic health checks.

 

[Trevorusn]

If the 3 with the most issues came from the same place, then I would say they are sickly because of however they were bred.
For the future, I would recommend really looking into the places you get your chicks from, and make sure they come from reputable breeders. If you see a hatchery that is NPIP certified, then that is also a plus. That certification basically means that they are breeding healthier chickens. I recently got some chicks from an NPIP certified hatchery, and so far they have been very healthy and robust.
You can read more about NPIP certification here: https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/npip-certification.75492/

Thats why they are the last hatchery birds we will ever get. We got them in September last year, the 22 birds we have added since then have all been from researched breeders. However, I think the 3 were not given the best of care at their former residence sadly.

 

[BY Bob]

If the 3 with the most issues came from the same place, then I would say they are sickly because of however they were bred.
For the future, I would recommend really looking into the places you get your chicks from, and make sure they come from reputable breeders. If you see a hatchery that is NPIP certified, then that is also a plus. That certification basically means that they are breeding healthier chickens. I recently got some chicks from an NPIP certified hatchery, and so far they have been very healthy and robust.
You can read more about NPIP certification here: https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/npip-certification.75492/

This is good advise.

 

[Trevorusn]

This is good advise.

Indeed it is. But, like I said, 7 of our hatchery birds we have had since chicks have also been among our healthiest. How strange, the way that works. Either way, over half our flock is now breeder stock, and we may keep it closed now considering all these maladies we have encountered.

 

[BY Bob]

Anything is helpful, but it seems due to where I live, unless I can keep all wildlife away I just may have to face reality that my flocks are susceptible to all the things wild birds can transmit to them. I just don't understand how it all happens so quickly while some folks have chickens for a decade and don't encounter half of this. We use sand in the main living areas of the coop, we stopped free ranging last summer after losing 2 to predation, and clean the coops daily, as well as do periodic health checks.

OK I'd like to focus on the coop and biosecurity. Do you have pictures of your coop and run that you can share?